Pennies

While flipping through a stack of finished school work Jake had brought home I came across this.

Dodd and I had a good laugh and then we taught our first grader how to spell pennies.

February 2011

I booked a cabin in the mountains for Dodd's birthday. The weekend we were to go was warm and there was no snow. So we decided to postpone the trip for a few weeks and hope for snow. Well it worked and we got lots of it. The kids had a blast.

The kids with cousins Milana and Natalia.

Jake with a BIG snow ball.

Our romantic Valentine's Day dinner with the family.

Valentine's Day portraits of Maya, thank you Brooke.

A fun bowling trip with the kids!

Jake came home from school with Chinese New Year projects. So of course we had to get Chinese food for dinner. My cute little China man!

January

Back in January my sister Tammy, sister in law Leslie, my mom and I flew to Kansas to surprise my oldest sister Teresa for her 40th birthday. My youngest sister was already staying at her house and helped us plan the surprise. Teresa was out with Todd when we got there so we had to wait for her. When she got back she had 4 sisters and her mom standing in the kitchen. Her reaction was priceless. She really had no idea. I loved the one week visit which was full of food, crafts, pictures, laughs and fun. I love my sisters and family!

Baby Heath. Love him!

When I returned home I found this new beautiful garage floor. Dodd not only stayed home and took care of the kids, he also completed this huge project and surprised me. It was awesome!

December 2010

December started off with Brooke's 9th birthday! She had friends over for a doggie birthday party and even helped make her dog cake.

The Ashby cousins came to visit and we had a fun trip to Knott's Berry Farm.

My sister Emily and her baby Heath came to visit. He is so cute!

Micah with his Christmas loot.

Kelsey got a bike and a big doll.

Jake and his toys.

Brooke loves anything with wheels.

Our New Year's Eve Party. They each had a bowl of poppers they got to do and they were in bed by 8:00.

November in review

Kelsey is in dance classes. She loves it.

I had an awesome birthday. We went out to dinner with the kids and then that weekend Dodd surprised me with a trip to the Griffith Park Observatory.

Jake and Dodd finished soccer. Dodd coached this year and Jake played great.

We had 2 yummy Thanksgivings. One at my sister Tammy's.

And the other at Dodd's parents. This is Kelsey with her fruit turkey she helped make.

Micah and I played at the beach.

My friend Christal did great job with our family photo.

Halloween

We love Halloween and so does our neighborhood. We had over 500 trick-or-treaters this year.
Our neighbor counted 542 and quit by 8:30.

Kelsey as a monkey and Jake (for the 3rd year) as a skeleton.
Micah was our little chicken.

Brooke as Where's Waldo.

Poor Maya

Brooke and her friend have taken up the hobby of Animal Photographers. They like to dress up our dog and put up backdrops and props for her. She is such a good dog and lets them do whatever they want. They are pretty good, but I can't help feel sorry for the dog. Here are a few of my favorites.